


Day 2: Ocean Dreams

by GemmaRose



Series: LawLu Week 2020 [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Dreams, Dreamwalking, Introspection, M/M, Referenced canonical character death, References to Depression
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:02:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28173639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemmaRose/pseuds/GemmaRose
Summary: He knew the shape of his dreams, the feeling that beat powerful against the inside of his ribs when his eyes slid open to the smell of breakfast. It had been a longing once, so powerful he’d not had words for it, only a sensation like a fish hook in his heart reeling him down to the shore, past the waves, towards that line of impossible blue. Now, with a ship of his own and a crew he trusted with his life, that longing had become an anthem, a drum pounding in his chest every time he looked out past Sunny’s railing towards the horizon.Freedom.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Trafalgar D. Water Law
Series: LawLu Week 2020 [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2063889
Kudos: 32





	Day 2: Ocean Dreams

As long as Luffy could remember, he’d dreamed of the sea. Before Shanks, before Dadan, before Ace and Sabo, there had always been the sea. He’d always loved how the sun sparkled on it when it set, how the moon lit the crest of every little wave in silver as bright as the fancy forks Makino kept in a locked cabinet and only brought out for birthdays and nights the Mayor came for dinner. He couldn’t remember his dreams, not like some of the other kids in Foosha could, but he knew that in them he was on a boat. That one night he’d stepped off the dock and onto a deck and seen the world spread out before him, endless blue in every direction.

Now that he was older, he still couldn’t remember his dreams when he woke up, but he knew the shape of them better, the feeling that beat powerful against the inside of his ribs when his eyes slid open to the smell of breakfast. It had been a longing once, so powerful he’d not had words for it, only a sensation like a fish hook in his heart reeling him down to the shore, past the waves, towards that line of impossible blue. Now, with a ship of his own and a crew he trusted with his life, that longing had become an anthem, a drum pounding in his chest every time he looked out past Sunny’s railing towards the horizon.

Freedom.

In his dreams, as in his life, he was free. His crew, too, were free to follow their dreams. He’d never done more than ask, and he never would. Maybe that was why he kept finding himself drawn to Torao. On Punk Hazard he’d moved with purpose, but Luffy had _felt_ the chains that bound him, sure as seastone. He’d thought that Torao would be better after they defeated Mingo, because that was how it worked wasn’t it? You beat up whoever was holding you back, whoever tried to stop you, and then you got to be free. He’d punched out the Master of the Near Sea when he set out, and then every enemy since, pirates and Marines and stupid islanders alike.

But even on their way to Zhou, Torao seemed... restrained. Like the chains of duty he’d wrapped ‘round himself had gone heavy as an anchor, weighing him down, pulling him to the sea in a way Luffy only just barely understood, but knew viscerally was _wrong_. Torao didn’t like to talk though, and when Luffy did manage to corner him into a conversation he just got circles talked around him and left more confused than before. It was Usopp who came up with the idea to try to get into Torao’s dreams, which made sense because Usopp was a dreamweaver, of course he would think about using dreams, of course he knew that people didn’t hide so much in their own hearts.

Luffy waited until he found Torao napping on deck after lunch, then flopped down on the patched boards next to him and shut his eyes. He was pretty sure Torao had been in his dreams once, and that would make it easy to find him again now. He shut his eyes, and opened them on Sunny’s deck, leaned up against the trunk of the swing tree. He popped to his feet with a smile, and shut his eyes as he breathed deep, casting his mind out the way he’d always done when he wanted to find another dreamer to share with.

Distance meant little, in dreams, but with Torao sleeping so near to him it was so very easy to slip past the boundary of his own mind and into the gentle snow that blanketed Torao’s. The ocean, ever-present in the dreams of his crew, was little more than a whisper at the edge of his hearing, a gentle pull at his mind, promising easy passage back to his own dream if he simply found the water’s edge in this one. He had to find Torao first, though, and that meant heading farther up the snowy hill, towards the fire that crowned it. The fire that, he could sense even from this distance, marked the border between Torao’s dreams and nightmares.

Torao sat in the snow, near enough to the flames Luffy could feel their heat on his face, could smell death radiating out from the burning house with its smothering smoke. Torao paid it no mind at all, legs crossed and hands on his knees, head tilted back to watch the falling snow. Next to him, half snowed over, laid a gangly man in a black version of Mingo’s coat. “Aren’t you cold?” he asked Torao, walking over to plop down next to him.

“Not really.” Law shrugged. “You get used to it.”

Luffy frowned, thinking of Robin’s sprawling library and the roar of cannons which broke the quiet when she had a bad night, the frost which crept over her beloved books, chasing her through the towering shelves until she jerked awake and Luffy found her in the kitchen, neither of them quite remembering the dream but happy to share whatever midnight snack Sanji had left out. You never really got used to it, he thought, but if Torao didn’t mind the cold then he wouldn’t either. It was a dream, after all.

“Wanna come back to mine?” he asked instead, holding out a hand to Torao. “Sunny’s way better than any island.”

Torao looked from his hand, to the body in the snow- and Luffy was strangely certain, now, that it was a body- and sighed. “I don’t suppose you’re going to let me say no.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Luffy frowned, dropping his hand. Torao opened his mouth, closed it again, and snorted a quiet laugh.

“You truly are one of a kind.” he laid a hand on Luffy’s shoulder, and just like that they were on Sunny’s grassy main deck again. Torao looked around, and a small smile curled his lips up at the edges. He should smile more, Luffy would have to make sure it happened. “I like this place a lot better when it’s not storming.”

Storming? Luffy frowned, then grimaced as he remembered that horrible night after Marineford. After Ace. After Torao saved his life and came into his dreams to remind him how to be big and strong again. He hadn’t dreamt of clear skies for months, after that. “Yeah, me too.” he said, and flashed Torao a smile. “C’mon, I’ll show you around.” he bounced to his feet and pulled Torao up with him by the elbow. Torao would talk when he was ready, but until then he could at least rest his anchor chains in the shade of Sunny’s swinging tree and let the ocean buoy him. Remember what it was like to be free.

Luffy wouldn’t let him forget that, no matter what.

**Author's Note:**

> This turned into introspection somehow? I’m not entirely sure what happened, I just wanted to write dreamwalker shenanigans and _this_ came out.
> 
> Apologies to any not-logged-in readers, but due to an ex who refuses to leave me alone I have had to disable anon comments. Kudos are still open though, and if you want to scream (or would like me to write a fic for you) come check me out on Pillowfort! No account required to get my discord, and I'm always happy to chat. [[Link](https://www.pillowfort.social/GemmaRose)]


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